| Obama: After 9/11, ‘we tortured some folks’ Posted: 01 Aug 2014 01:47 PM PDT  President Obama urged that US officials who used torture not be judged too harshly.
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| Official: NYC Police chokehold ruled a homicide Posted: 01 Aug 2014 01:31 PM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — A chokehold used by a police officer on a New York City man during his arrest for selling untaxed, loose cigarettes last month caused his death, the medical examiner announced Friday, ruling it a homicide.
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| 2 Americans with Ebola land arrive in the US Posted: 01 Aug 2014 03:23 PM PDT  Two Americans seriously ill with the deadly Ebola virus should arrive in the U.S. from West Africa by early next week.
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| War of words erupts between Larry King & Piers Morgan Posted: 01 Aug 2014 01:59 PM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — Clearly, former CNN prime-time stars Larry King and Piers Morgan aren't big fans of each other.
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| Canadian police launch anti-sexting app for kids Posted: 01 Aug 2014 01:30 PM PDT  A Canadian police sex crimes unit offered a sneak peak Friday of an app to help kids rebuff requests for naked pics online, amid what authorities called a sexting "epidemic." The "Send This Instead" free app, to be offered by the Ontario Provincial Police, provides 57 humorous and sarcastic retorts to sexting requests, as well as a link to police to report sexual harassment. It is aimed at Canadian teens, but will be available worldwide when it is officially launched at the Crimes Against Children Conference in Dallas, Texas on August 11-14. "When you are feeling pressured to send intimate images to someone online, Send This Instead," reads a description of the app on Apple's and Google's app stores.
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| Virginia ex-governor's corruption trial jury sees racy email Posted: 01 Aug 2014 03:37 PM PDT  By Gary Robertson RICHMOND Va. (Reuters) - The federal jury hearing the corruption trial of former Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell on Friday saw a racy email his wife sent to a businessman, a communication defense attorneys said was proof that the two were having an affair. Lawyers for McDonnell's wife, Maureen, said at the start of the trial that the couple's marriage had been unraveling at the time they accepted gifts from a businessman they said Maureen McDonnell had a "crush" on. Maureen McDonnell's attorney on Friday showed the jury at U.S. District Court in Richmond an email his client sent to Williams on Aug. 23, 2011, the day an earthquake rocked the U.S. East Coast. Defense attorneys tried to distance the former governor from Williams, saying the interaction was primarily between the businessman and Maureen McDonnell.
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| Obama: Israeli soldier must be freed Posted: 01 Aug 2014 12:00 PM PDT  'Unconditional release' is required If Hamas wants to resolve Gaza conflict, Obama says.
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| Ebola-hit countries move to seal off hot zones, borders Posted: 01 Aug 2014 02:03 PM PDT  West Africa's Ebola-hit nations announced a cross-border isolation zone on Friday, sealing off the epicentre of the world's worst-ever outbreak as health chiefs warned the epidemic was spiralling out of control. The announcement came at an emergency summit in the Guinean capital to discuss the outbreak, which has killed more than 700 people, with the World Health Organization warning Ebola could cause "catastrophic" loss of life and severe economic disruption if it continued to spread. "We have agreed to take important and extraordinary actions at the inter-country level to focus on cross-border regions that have more than 70 percent of the epidemic," said Hadja Saran Darab, the secretary-general of the Mano River Union bloc grouping the nations. The leaders of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea used the summit to launch a $100 million (75 million euro) action plan which will see several hundred more medical staff deployed to battle the epidemic.
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| Teen girl to get head examined after setting 2K acre wildfire Posted: 01 Aug 2014 12:53 PM PDT  A teenage girl charged with setting a California wildfire that burned 2,000 acres (800 hectares) and destroyed some 40 structures north of San Diego in May has been ordered by a judge to submit to a mental competency exam, prosecutors said on Friday. She has been identified only by her first name, Cheyenne, because she is a minor. Cheyenne, who could be required to stand trial as an adult, was ordered to undergo the mental competency evaluation by a judge during a hearing earlier this week, San Diego County District Attorney's spokeswoman Tanya Sierra said.
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| New alcohol rehab center opens in...Iran? Posted: 01 Aug 2014 11:42 AM PDT  TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has opened the country's first, state-run rehab and treatment center for alcoholism, an Iranian semi-official news agency reported on Friday.
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| US brings 2 Americans sick with Ebola back home Posted: 01 Aug 2014 03:24 PM PDT  Two Americans infected with Ebola in West Africa will be evacuated back to the United States in the coming days to be cared for in strict isolation, officials said Friday. Kent Brantly, a doctor who was treating Ebola patients in Liberia, and Christian missionary worker Nancy Writebol, are being flown home, but it was not immediately clear when they would arrive back in the US. Meanwhile US President Barack Obama said that delegates from Ebola-hit countries attending a US-Africa summit next week in Washington and who may have been exposed to the deadly virus would be screened before leaving their countries. The World Health Organization said the fast-moving outbreak was causing "catastrophic" loss of life in the affected countries of Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
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| 2014 game changer? New Florida voting map ordered Posted: 01 Aug 2014 09:53 AM PDT  TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida judge on Friday ordered legislators to hold a special session to draw up a new congressional map for the state after the old one was ruled to be illegal.
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| Big change coming to "disabilities" logo Posted: 31 Jul 2014 01:00 PM PDT  Late last week, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill that will require the removal of the word "handicapped" from signs, and unveiled a new, updated accessibility logo — part of an effort to destigmatize people with disabilities.
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| Cheers: French hospital plans wine bar for terminally ill Posted: 01 Aug 2014 08:56 AM PDT  A hospital in the French city of Clermont-Ferrand is to open a wine bar where terminally ill patients will be able to enjoy a "medically-supervised" glass or two with their families. Nothing justifies such an prohibition," the Clermont-Ferrand University Hospital Center said in statement. The center's head, Dr. Virginie Guastella, said terminally ill patients had the right to "enjoy themselves". Although some researchers have long held that an antioxidant found in red wine is good for the heart, some recent research has determined that wine's health benefits are exaggerated.
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| 'Bleeding to death': Aereo seeks court's help to function as cable company Posted: 01 Aug 2014 09:03 AM PDT  By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - Aereo Inc, the video streaming company that suspended service after the U.S. Supreme Court found it violated copyrights of television broadcasters, has urged a federal judge to let it operate like a cable system, saying it likely would not otherwise survive. In a Thursday night filing with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the start-up backed by billionaire Barry Diller said it needed emergency help because it could not continue incurring "staggering costs" without having revenue come in, and required "some time" to make the necessary technological changes. "Unless it is able to resume operations in the immediate future, the company will likely not survive," Aereo said. "The company is figuratively bleeding to death." Bruce Keller, a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton representing the broadcasters, declined to comment on Friday.
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| Israel pushes deeper in Gaza after soldier seized Posted: 01 Aug 2014 01:41 PM PDT  GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Backed by tank fire and airstrikes, Israeli forces pushed deep into southern Gaza on Friday, searching for an Israeli army officer believed to be captured by Hamas fighters during deadly clashes that shattered an internationally brokered cease-fire.
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| Obama says after 9-11, US 'tortured some folks' Posted: 01 Aug 2014 01:26 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States tortured al Qaida detainees captured after the 9/11 attacks, President Obama said Friday, in some of his most expansive comments to date about a controversial set of CIA practices that he banned after taking office.
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| 2 Americans detained in North Korea seek US help Posted: 01 Aug 2014 04:05 PM PDT  PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Two American tourists charged with "anti-state" crimes in North Korea said Friday they expect to be tried soon and pleaded for help from the U.S. government to secure their release from what they say could be long prison terms.
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| Why isn't there a treatment or vaccine for Ebola? Posted: 01 Aug 2014 12:08 PM PDT  LONDON (AP) — In the four decades since the Ebola virus was first identified in Africa, treatment hasn't changed much. There are no licensed drugs or vaccines for the deadly disease.
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| Americans with Ebola returning to US for treatment Posted: 01 Aug 2014 04:11 PM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — Two American aid workers seriously ill with Ebola will be brought from West Africa to Atlanta for treatment in one of the most tightly sealed isolation units in the country, officials said Friday.
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| AP-GfK poll: Public ready to close book on 2 wars Posted: 01 Aug 2014 12:43 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Three in four Americans think history will judge the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as failures, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll that shows that about the same percentage think it was right to pull forces from the two countries. |
| Police chokehold said to cause NYC man's death Posted: 01 Aug 2014 03:17 PM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — The New York City medical examiner ruled Friday that a police officer's chokehold caused the death of a man whose videotaped arrest and final pleas of "I can't breathe!" sparked outrage and led to the announcement of a complete overhaul of use-of-force training for the nation's largest police force.
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| Denver fair's bong, edible contests celebrate pot Posted: 01 Aug 2014 02:16 PM PDT  DENVER (AP) — Marijuana joined roses and dahlias Friday in blue ribbon events at the nation's first county fair to allow pot competitions.
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| House moves toward vote on border bill Posted: 01 Aug 2014 02:01 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans revived their bill on the U.S.-Mexico border crisis in dramatic fashion Friday, preparing to pass it after winning over conservatives with tough new provisions that could threaten deportation for hundreds of thousands of immigrants already working in this country legally. President Barack Obama condemned the Republican action and said he'd act unilaterally, as best he could. |
| Ukraine: Body parts retrieved at jet crash site Posted: 01 Aug 2014 12:28 PM PDT  HRABOVE, Ukraine (AP) — Wearing gloves and carrying blue plastic buckets, international investigators finally began gathering up body parts and victims' belongings Friday in the fields where Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 came down.
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